Curious
by littlemisssweetie
Summary: Curiosity killed the cat, let's just hope it doesn't kill me. I knew I should I have left that Jack Spicer alone, but how does one ignore a boy who claims to be an evil genius who wants to take over the world? Especially when he's your next door neighbor. Now I'm in way over my head with a secret war, magical artifacts, and a romance? JackxOC
1. An Awkward Beginning

Jack Spicer was in many ways a brilliant man, but he was also a fool. With the ability to build complicated robots that could fight, transform, understand a series of spoken commands, fly, and do many other activities; Jack could be considered a genius. He even built a time machine out of boredom. However, Jack lacked social skills. His narcissism, fanboyism, and general tendency to act like a five year old when he didn't get his way certainly didn't speak highly of his ability to communicate with others effectively. Jack's somewhat forced interaction with the Xiaolin warriors had forced him to mature slightly and some of the nastier Shen Gon Wu had shown up parts of his personality he wasn't particularly fond of. Generally many of Jack's weaknesses could probably be attributed to the neglect of his parents and his isolation from other children his age.

Whom am I? You may ask. I'm nobody really. Just his neighbor. Jack's parents were one of those rich people who build their giant mansions in the middle of a perfectly normal block so that all the normal houses look smaller and poorer in comparison. Upon realizing that Mr. and Mrs. Spicer were not going to be friendly neighbors, but were only around to show off their wealth, the Spicer family was generally ignored. Their property was so huge that the house could barely be seen from the road anyway. I am not the kind of person just to ignore something. I may not be mechanically brilliant like Jack, but I am inquisitive.

This is why I found myself investigating Jack Spicer instead of ignoring him like the rest of the world does. I do admit my behavior tends to be a bit stalkerish but it certainly had not started that way. A few years back strange things had begun to happen at the Spicer household. In addition to Jack's Jack-bots (oh the narcissism) patrolling the yard, the security system was expanded. The cause for this became apparent after the first break-in. This break-in did not involve criminals wielding technologically advanced devices, rather it involved four children dressed as monks and a dragon. Things did not begin to make any more sense from there. Over the years I've witnessed many strange things happening at Spicer household ranging from tubby ninjas to giant stone monsters to an evil bean. Honestly if I told anyone about the amount of supernatural things I had witnessed they would probably assume I was mentally unbalanced.

Since I know I could not go to any form of normal authority about what was happening, I decided to look into it on my own. It was a bit disturbing how quickly I was able to uncover the war between the Xiaolin and Heylin sides. It was far more disturbing how few people outside of the conflict seemed to notice anything strange. Then again this could easily be explained by the human condition, but I don't have time to ponder the strange workings of the human mind. You see the more I investigated the more I realized that I needed to verify my theories. I could gather what was going on at the Spicer household from the evidence, but it was not the same as being in the loop. I had no good reasoning for wanting to know other than I had to know. Someone needed to say to me that I was correct and that indeed there was a magical war going on right beneath our feet that the rest of the world refused to acknowledge.

This was the exact reason I was perched on my windowsill at 6:39 am. My brain seems to be constantly running. It likes to ponder over questions, notice the bland, and invent reasons for the unreasonable. I had, at this point, been up for approximately thirty seven and a half hours straight. The human brain does not function properly after a certain amount of time without sleep and that is my excuse for my following actions. The Spicer mystery bothered me. The circumstances I already had concluded (although they needed verification) but Jack Spicer himself was what bothered me. How did he fit in? He was intellectually inclined sure, but he had no need for most of the mystical items he sought. He could easily build devices that could accomplish the same goals, within reason of course. So the question was why? Surely someone as smart as him could think of better things to do with his time? I could always provide some reasonable suggestions if he required. Perhaps it was a power thing.

I blew the bangs out of my face. They had grown past the acceptable length I had determined earlier and needed to be dealt with soon. If this had been any other person I would have solved this case in half a day and have found another way to occupy my time. Humans were really not that complicated. Jack Spicer should especially not be so, yet he was.

"Perhaps a direct confrontation is necessary?" I said to myself.

Yes. Why not? I was not going to get any more answers by staring into his yard. If I had not gotten the answers in all these years by sitting here than I should move onto the next step. Personal interaction. Shuffling backwards through my window, I landed on the floor of my room. I changed out of my pajamas and into a sunflower themed dress. I scooped my hair up into a ponytail after realizing that I had far too many braids, ribbons, and beads in it to brush it properly. Throwing on some flip-flops, I grabbed my wallet, keys, and jacket, and snuck out the front door.

Living next door and being somewhat obsessive had given me some advantages when it came to sneaking past Jack's security system. In fact I think I had a file buried somewhere in my closet about every version of the Spicer Security system along with noted weaknesses and evading paths. I frowned. Perhaps I was more invested in Spicer than I cared to admit. Oh well, as long as no one found that file. Slipping past Jack-bot number 4 as he turned right along the wall, I hurried towards the Spicer's front door. The biggest weakness in Jack's security system was always the front door. This was because Jack did not want to alert his parents of his activities nor interfere with his parents' normal routine. Not that it mattered because his parents had rarely been home and now they no longer lived there. Jack had officially brought the house from them seven months and twenty-two days ago. Still Jack not updated the security system in at least eight months. I rang the doorbell.

It was at this moment that several things occurred to me. One that it was, at most, only seven in the morning on a Saturday. Two that I had not prepared anything to say. Three that my ringing the doorbell had activated some part of the security system and I would not be able to quietly slink away before the door was answered. I winced slightly. I had been way too eager to get answers and had clearly not thought this through. Which once again brought the question to mind: why was I so obsessed with Jack Spicer?

At the moment the door was answered. Even though I knew I had been unprepared, I was stumped at how severely unprepared I was. You see I had forgotten that while I had been preoccupied with the circumstances surrounding Jack Spicer and his motivations years had passed. Since he was only fourteen when the events had started, and it had been five years, Jack Spicer was now nineteen years old. At some point he had physically developed. He was no longer a gangly awkward teenager. His face had become sharper and refined, his muscles apparent, and his voice deeper. I only knew this last fact because Jack was mumbling heavily under his breath about being woken up so early.

"What!" Jack growled at me, one hand propping the door open and the other dragging through his red hair.

If I had been a writer I probably would have described this moment with as many adjectives as possible, but I am not. In fact, I'm certain the moment Jack looked into my eyes that my IQ dropped forty points minimum. His half –asleep look with no goggles, face paint, and in a long-sleeve shirt that hung marvelously on him was too much for me. I felt my face flush as all the blood flooded the skin in my face. It occurred to me that somewhere in my adolescent brain when I had first started watching Jack Spicer that I had thought he was cute. After all I was just thirteen then, hormones taking over my usually logical brain, and I may have started stalking Jack because of a crush. This realization caused all the blood to drain from my face and the sudden loss of blood (along with lack of sleep) caused me to pass out.

Jack Spicer was not a happy man. He was mostly a nocturnal creature, a habit formed from staying up late way too many nights while working on his machines. After only three precious hours of sleep he was awakened by his doorbell ringing. No one ever rang his doorbell. He had no friends that visited. Any of his Heylin allies usually just broke in. The Xiaolin warriors tended to kick his front door in. The likelihood that his parents were visiting was laughable at best.

"If this ends up being one of those door to door salesmen, I'm using him as a test subject for my shrink ray," Jack muttered before ripping open the front door.

"What!" he growled looking the offender of his precious sleep in the eyes.

In front of Jack stood a girl that he vaguely recognized. The hair was the most familiar thing as it was filled with various hair bands, ribbons, and other accessories and therefore quite distinct. The girl seemed shocked at him answering the door. Why the hell did she ring the doorbell then? Maybe it was one of those pranks kids played. She didn't look like the type with her flowery dress, hippy hair, and jean jacket. Plus her face had turned a bright red at the sight of him. Jack raised an eyebrow. Was she embarrassed? As quickly as the blush appeared, it faded, and she turned very pale. Then her eyes rolled into her head and she pitched forward. Only years of fighting those stupid monks had given Jack somewhat quick reflexes, which he used to catch her in his arms.

"Hey!" he objected trying to prop her back on her feet to no use, "No passing out here!"

The girl clearly wasn't responding to his shouting. What was he supposed to do now? It's not like he had girls fainting on his steps everyday.

"Jack-bots!" he commanded the closest ones, "Carry her in and identify her."

One Jack-bot reached forward and grabbed the girl by the arms. Her head dropped forward as the robot dragged her into the house.

"You!" Jack shouted at another robot, "Get me some coffee!"

The second robot hurried to follow through with the order and Jack stepped back inside his house. This was going to be a long day. Well since he was up, he might as well get ready.

"Jackbot, get me if she wakes up," he shouted at the one who was placing the girl on the couch in the living room.

Muttering to himself, Jack headed back to his bedroom. How troublesome. He wasn't supposed to wake up for another three hours, now his whole schedule was off. Jack supposed he could use the extra time to work on some of his inventions. His wormhole generator was coming along nicely. At least this version hadn't blown up yet. After a quick shower and getting dressed, Jack came down the stairs drinking a cup of coffee a Jack-bot had delivered him.

"At least they make a decent cup of coffee," Jack told himself.

Being alone most of his time since Wuya left, Jack picked up the habit of talking to himself. Sometimes he talked to his robots but they weren't very good conversationalists. It's probably cause he created them and he wasn't a very good conversationalist. Sadly his battles over the Shen Gong Wu were the most social interaction he got nowadays. Well that and random girls fainting at his doorstep. At least he handled it better than he would have at age 14.

"Who is she?" he asked the Jack-bot who was watching the girl.

Jack took a seat in an armchair across from the couch the girl was on and sipped at his coffee.

"Her name is Cori Serentoff," the robot answered.

"A threat?" Jack asked wondering if this was one of his many nemesis's more twisted plots to get back at him.

"She carries no weapons or technology other than the phone which has been scanned for threats," came the mechanical reply.

"Cori huh?" Jack rubbed his chin, "That sounds familiar."

"Sir, she is your next door neighbor."

Jack snapped his fingers. No wonder he recognized her. He had seen her a couple of times. Mostly from a distance when he was either taking off or landing. Once or twice he had spotted her staring out her window into his yard. Jack had thought nothing of it at the time. Most of his neighbors were a little bit curious about his family but they were harmless.

"Sir, one more thing," the Jack-bot interrupted his thinking.

"What is it?" Jack asked taking another sip of his coffee.

"She didn't trigger any of the alarms," the Jack-bot admitted, "She is on no security camera either until she rings the doorbell."

Jack raised an eyebrow at this. Had he misjudged her? She looked relatively harmless, but Jack didn't know much about her. Still she could have been a spy placed against him. Or under some sort of spell. He couldn't take his chances. Still what kind of spy rings the doorbell and then passes out?

"_One who wants access to your house_," his mind suggested.

"Jack-bot, she has not woken right?" Jack asked.

"She has remained unconscious, sir."

Jack was puzzled. What kind of person snuck up to another's house without some sort of malicious intent? Just what kind of person was his neighbor anyway?

"Jack-bot find out all the information you can about her and bring me a crossword puzzle while you're at it."

Well if he had to sit here and watch her he might as well have something to do. Twenty minutes later Jack had grown bored with the puzzle and started playing games on his phone.

"Take that stupid pigs," he muttered at the game.

While Angry Birds had nothing on Goo Zombies it was still wildly entertaining. The profits these people must have made off this game.

"Jack-bot," Jack shouted over his shoulder, "Tell the creation team at Spicer Trade we need an addicting video game for the iphone."

"Yes sir," one of his many Jack-bots replied.

At one point Jack had tried to name them and give them more distinct personalities, but the monks destroyed them all so quickly that there was really no point. Stupid monks. Didn't they know that robots didn't grow on trees? Jack glanced up as he saw the girl across from him on the couch begin to stir.

"Shit," Jack cursed.

He hadn't really thought of what approach to take yet. Perhaps he could try the evil villain one? If she snuck past his alarms she couldn't have been an ordinary citizen and for once he would like to have someone afraid of him. Besides it's what Chase would do.

"Jack-bot, get the shades," he ordered, "You provide some threatening lighting. A couple of you stand around the couch. And would you stop vacuuming?"

The robot with the frilly apron that had been cleaning the hallway look dejected before floating out of sight with the vacuum tucked under his arm. Jack squirmed in his chair trying to find the perfect evil-looking position. He eventually decided on casually leaning back in his chair so that his face was partially hidden by shadow.

The girl opened her eyes and looked around for a moment. Jack didn't know exactly what he expected but it was more than what he was getting. She wasn't screaming in fright. She didn't look terrified. She didn't even look concerned. Instead she had appeared confused for all of two seconds before switching to curious. She didn't even make a peep as she sat up and glanced around. Jack forced himself to remain calm. The way she looked at everything, it was like she was studying it. Not the way Chase did, in which he looked at everyone as if they were a pawn in his plans (which they usually were). She just seemed to like to know. None of this was going to plan but Jack proceeded anyway.

"Cori Serentoff," he greeted ominously as her eyes landed on him, "How nice of you to drop by."

The girl blushed a little, seemingly embarrassed at how she fainted. She bit her lip and looked indecisive for a moment before coming to a conclusion. She tightened her posture and placed her arms across her lap like she was at a business deal instead of being held captured at an evil villain's house. Well not that she necessarily knew that's what this was.

"I apologize. I did not mean to faint on you or bother you so early in the morning," her voice was oddly quiet.

Perhaps Jack had misjudged her. Maybe she was just his shy neighbor who came over to ask a neighborly favor of some sort and accidently passed out. Still it was all too suspicious.

"Yes about that," Jack tried to maintain his cool evil villain persona, "I cannot help but notice that you avoided every part of my security system."

Surely Jack had her now.

"It's cause I know where they all are," she confessed shyly.

"What?!" Jack screeched temporarily breaking character.

How could she possibly know that? He spent months planning every detail of every component of his security system. There were cameras and robots and freaking lazers for crying out loud! And she just knew where everything was? Impossible. She had to be a spy.

"So you admit you're a spy! Working for one of my many enemies are you?" Jack interrogated.

Probably those goody Xialoin Monks. Well today they would not get the drop on him.

"No," she replied, "The weakness of your security system is always the front door."

"How could you possibly know that?" Jack asked, "Nobody knows that!"

"I have been your neighbor for ten years. I was curious," she answered honestly.

"Wait," Jack was extremely confused, "You figured out my security system because you were curious? Is that why you came over here today? You were curious!"

"To be blunt, yes. Interesting events have been happening at this address for years and nobody else seems to notice. I thought I would try to get to the bottom of it."

"You noticed all that crap?" Jack asked.

Nobody ever noticed. Not even when his house got lifted off its foundation by a giant stone monster. The girl nodded.

"Just how much do you know?"

"I know about the war between good and evil. I also have knowledge about the magical objects you fight over and a couple of identities of the numerous people who break into your house," she listed off.

Jack was speechless. Here was some random girl basically confessing to knowing everything about the somewhat secret war going on. His eyes narrowed. She also happened to be his neighbor and had a lot more personal information about him than most did. That could be dangerous for him.

"If you know all this, why are you here?" he asked, "Why didn't you run off to the monks and confess all my dirty little secrets?"

"They're not interesting," she confessed, "They have human faults yes but they are all basically good inside. A week tops with them and I would know exactly how each one of their minds work."

"So if you're here you must find me interesting," Jack raised his eyebrows at her.

"You are the most complex character I have met. I acknowledge that most people regard you as an idiot but you are also a mechanical genius. You live in shades of grey compared to black and white and I have quite a bit of trouble trying to predict your next move."

Jack brushed off the idiot comment. It was people's default comment about him and she was merely saying other people's views. Still, this girl was intriguing. She was obviously gifted intellectually to notice the war and figure out how to break into his house. Her neutrality was obvious, seeing as she was only here because she was curious. While quiet, she was not shy and she was confident in her ability to read people. Her outfit and mannerisms could fool most people as well. Perhaps he could use her. If he made her work for him.

Jack got up from his chair and approached the couch. The girl watched his every footstep but didn't make a move. He decided to get up close and personal. While he may not be as evil as Chase was, he did pick up a few intimidation techniques over the years and he was much more frightening as an adult than a teen boy. Lifting her chin between his fingers so her face was angled up towards him, Jack let loose an evil smirk.

"You do realize I am evil, right? Who's to say that I let you go so freely? After all you can be a threat to my plans."

The girl visibly flushed and looked a little intimated but she still held his gaze and replied softly.

"Honestly I did not think this through. I merely wanted answers so I decided to go get some."

Interesting answer. At least she didn't try that "I see good in you" bullcrap Omi always went on about. Jack realized he was still holding the girl's chin in his hands. He glanced at her. She was kind of cute. Jack quickly dropped her chin and took a step back. He could not afford to think like that when he was not sure of her alliance yet.

"And what would you do for these answers?" Jack asked, turning to glance into the fireplace.

There was no fire in the fireplace. Jack regretted that move, it would have added cool lighting to his face. But it was also a bit strange to have a roaring fire when the weather was still warm out.

"I never really thought about it," Cori admitted, "Usually I am able to acquire all the necessary information on my own and now that you know of my existence it would be much harder to spy on you."

How intently had she been spying on him anyway? Because from her knowledge it had to have been at least a couple of years and his younger teen years were not a pretty site. She hadn't seen him "discovering himself" right? Jack shuddered. He hoped not.

"I have a proposal for you," Jack said turning back to her.

"A proposal?"

"A business proposal," Jack clarified.

"You have my attention."

"Let's make a few things clear first." Jack started pacing back and forth in front of her, "You say you have been spying on me, am I correct?"

"I prefer the word investigating."

"Do you think this information is valuable?"

"Well, I was limited to observations from my window, as under law that is legal, but between what I have seen and my information gathering skills I believe my information could be valuable in the right hands."

"Information gathering?" Jack prodded.

"I tend to do a lot of research and I am quite good at psychologically profiling. Did you know Kimiko has mother-related issues?"

"What?" Jack was flabbergasted. Perhaps father-related issues were understandable because she seemed to be a daddy's girl, but mother-issues? Did she even have a mom?

"Yes and Omi suffers from parent issues too. Probably due to his status as orphan. Building robots that pretended to be his parents was a smart move on your part as you obviously took advantage of his psychological issues but you failed to account for the emotional response when your ploy was revealed."

Jack winced at that. Omi had not taken to finding out that his so called parents were nothing more than fancy Jack-bots.

"As I was saying before," Jack awkwardly cleared his throat, trying not to think about his past failures, "You have valuable information. You also desire answers. Let's strike a deal."

"What are the terms and conditions of this so called deal?" Cori asked.

"You become an associate of mine. You'll work for me. I can use your research skills to plan my attacks!" Jack announced triumphantly.

"What is my receiving end of the bargain?"

"I will answer any and all questions you have," Jack offered.

"Counter-offer," Cori said standing up to face Jack, "You hire me as an intern for Spicer Trade Inc. Of course this will be a cover for my real work with you. I will be your business partner. I will provide you with any and all information you desire that I can acquire. Maybe I'll even help you out with a plan or two. In return I get to make a psychological profile of you. I also reserve the right to refuse to work with any other Heylin villains. I cannot be traded out. My information is for you and you alone. I can also quit at any time."

"I'll pay you as Spicer Intern," Jack grinned, "But you also have to bring over any security detail files you have on me and destroy them. Additionally, if I feel you are betraying my secrets or trust I will take necessary action. AND I get to name any and all inventions and plans."

"Perhaps we should draw up a contract," Cori suggested.

"Or I can hold you hostage. I am evil you know." Jack added.

"That seems unnecessary. I am sure we can come to a verbal agreement."

"Ready to be my evil minion?" Jack offered out his hand to shake.

"Your business partner," Cori countered.

"Fine," Jack agreed.

"It's a deal," Cori took Jack's hand and shook it, "This should be most interesting."

"Oh you have no idea sweetheart," Jack grinned wickedly.


	2. An Awkward Partnership

Hello to my one reviewer! I updated as soon as possible (it would have been earlier if I hadn't lost power for a while).

Fair warning to everyone if you didn't read my profile or the rating of this fic. It is rated M because of sexy thoughts and potentially sexy times somewhere down the road. So yeah. Be mature about it please.

* * *

The moment their hands shook, Jack began to work. I was actually quite amazed at his work ethic and the speed at which he completed tasks. Immediately, Jack made the required phone calls to get the paperwork for her "internship" at Spicer Inc underway. Additionally, he ordered his Jackbots to begin preparing an extra work station in his evil lair for her. Another set of robots were sent to retrieve my research from my house. Lucky for the Jackbots I believed in paper organization and kept most of my files in a nice filing cabinet. Well, except for the really important documents which I plan to keep a secret. Those documents were hidden quite well and would only be retrieved if it were a true emergency. No one enters a business deal with someone who calls himself an evil genius without having a backup plan.

With a dramatic flourish Jack ushered me towards the secret entrance to his secret lair. Unknown to Jack, I had long since figured out where his secret lair would be. Simply by looking at the architectural plans for his house, gathering information about rooms by looking out my window into his house, and asking his mother a few questions one time when she graced the neighborhood with her presence at a block party. Jack's secret lair was his basement and sub-basement of his house. The layout and actual contents of the lair would be a surprise though.

Walking through a door, down some stairs, and then through another door (this one made of steel and had a fingerprint scanning device) I finally arrived in the lair.

"What do you think?" Jack asked waving his arms around as if he were a game show host showing off the fabulous prize.

I had to make note that part of Jack's personality was a need to receive attention and praise. Obviously due to the lack of authority figures in his life. Actually due to the lack of anyone in his life that was remotely concerned about his well-being. That thought was actually a bit depressing. Shoving the thought into the back of my mind, I took this chance to observe the lair and technically my new work place.

While this may have once been a basement, now this was a lab that most scientists would kill for. The floors and walls were made of concrete, probably for both the foundation of the house and the extra protection provided. Plus concrete could always stand a little wear and tear. The walls had hooks and bolts and shelves on which fancy machine parts, stray tools, and parts of robots lay. There was a high-tech table obviously meant for configuring delicate machinery on. Against one wall was a huge desk which was covered with mechanical drawings. A huge supercomputer covered one wall, quietly humming as it awaited commands. Here and there were half built machines, which Jackbots were quietly guarding. A smaller desk sat up against another wall. This one was empty. I pointed to it.

"That's your desk," Jack answered my unspoken question, "I have no idea how you do your research so if you need anything let you know."

"A wifi connection and an Ethernet cord," I told him, "My laptop should work well enough."

Jack nodded before calling over one of his Jackbots. While I may have been impressed with Jack's lab I hadn't forgotten to observe the security. Small cameras glinted from every corner of the room, probably recording my every action. Jackbots were everywhere and I had a feeling the only way I would be getting into this lab was if Jack let me in. He certainly wouldn't register my fingerprint scan anytime soon and the seven digit code that unlocked the first door would take a while to guess. I wasn't here to earn his trust though. I was here to get some answers. The cover story of me being an intern would also get my parents off my back. Being homeschooled and intellectually advanced put me in a peculiar position. Until recently I had not been of legal age, but I had finished all of my schooling. Not of legal working age, unsure if I wanted to pursue more schooling and in what category, and unwilling to be emancipated; I spent the last couple of months throwing myself into various projects. One of course being the investigation of Jack Spicer. Now I could tell my parents I was exploring my options in the career world, which was technically true if I ever desired a career in world domination.

Spicer Inc was actually a pretty famous company and it would look good on my resume if I ever decided to pursue a normal career. See Spicer Inc was really an amalgamation of various types of companies and storefronts. Some divisions specialized in food, others specialized in furniture. Of course what they had specialized in best was technology. It hadn't always been that way. They used to be an average company when it came to technological advancements. That is until Jack Spicer turned eighteen. After that the company really took off and hit the top of the sale charts soon after. Few knew the reason for the sudden boom in Spicer Inc's stock was due to one boy having a birthday. Those who did know kept the information on the downlow because Spicer asked for indiscretion so he could continue his work in private. I had a theory that it was actually due to his plans to take over the world. After seeing what Spicer had accomplished over the years with his robots and other machines, I knew he produce the stuff he was releasing to the public market in his sleep. Obviously he was doing just enough to keep his father's company happy and healthy while spending most of his time hunting down Shen Gong Wu and trying to complete his plans for world domination. I would have to verify this of course. I wonder if Jack would answer that question directly.

Suddenly my stomach growled. I felt my face flush a light shade of pink, which I quickly tried to suppress. Few people took your seriously when you had little control of your emotions. I had forgotten in all the excitement and fainting and touring that I had yet to eat today even though I had been up for all of it. Sometimes I get lost in thought.

"Sorry," I apologized to Jack, "Forgot to eat."

Jack looked like he was about to say something when his stomach growled too. His face flushed a brilliant shade of red. We awkwardly stared at each other for a second, trying to figure out what to say before Jack made an executive decision.

"Jackbot," he ordered the nearest one, "Go make us some pancakes."

He turned to me.

"You like pancakes right?" he asked.

I nodded my head yes.

"Alright pancakes it is," Jack announced, "Let's go talk plans while we wait. I have a research project for you in mind."

That was a bit of a surprise. I assumed Jack would falter a bit at giving me real work to do. This of course would enable me to work on my psychological profile more, but it would also give me extra free time. While extra free time was good for most people, it was not for me. I tended to need work. I needed projects and research and questions to answer. When I didn't I tended to create work. Sometimes this had unusual results. Like the time I took up ice carving with chainsaws. Luckily that hobby was shortlived as my weak arms weren't good at holding up a chainsaw.

Jack led me upstairs into his kitchen. A Jackbot in a frilly apron and a chef's hat was whisking some batter by the stove. I took a seat at the kitchen table. Jack plopped down across from me and pulled out his phone.

"I assume you are already aware of the Xiaolin dorks?" he asked.

"If you mean the monks that break into your place then yes," I answered.

The way he addressed the monks was another note to put in her file.

"Well they live here," Jack showed me a picture of the monk's temple on his phone, "They keep all their Shen Gong Wu in a vault located in a central room in the temple."

Jack flipped through a few more pictures of the temple. I took careful note of the architectural style and rough age of the temple.

"The vault is underground. In the past I have had little trouble breaking into the vault by distracting the monks or waiting till security is low but now," Jack admitted, "The dorks have improved in their training and going through this way is difficult,"

The chef Jackbot slide a plate of pancakes in front of me and Jack. Then he nicely placed some butter and syrup on the table along with knives and forks.

"May I get you a drink?" the Jackbot asked.

"Milk please," I requested.

It was a bit strange to be ordering from a robot but I knew Jack used his Jackbots for all sorts of things. I had seen them do everything from mowing the lawn to fixing the roof to fighting off giant jungle cats. Knowing Jack's personality it was not strange that he used his Jackbots to prepare his meals. I wonder if they had specific recipes programmed into them. Could Jack cook? I turned my attention away from my thoughts and back to Jack. Jack ordered his drink and proceeded to explain to me his plan between bites of pancakes.

"So my new evil plan involves digging a tunnel underneath the temple," Jack began.

"Is it necessary to add the evil?" I interrupted curious, "Surely the evil is implied if you consider yourself an evil genius who plans to take over the world."

"People tend to not take me seriously so I like to remind them how evil I am," Jack explained.

"You announcing your evil may be the reason they do not take you seriously," I suggested, "I've never heard Chase refer to his plans as evil. It's kind of implied."

"Yeah well Chase comes with an aura of evil," Jack tried to explain.

"Didn't you use to have a lot of admiration and affection for the man?" I asked.

Jack stopped eating pancakes to look at me.

"One that sounds wrong. I used to think he was cool. I didn't want to marry him!" Jack objected, "Two, I'm concerned about how much you've spied on me. Three, I've grown out of my idol crushing phase. I'm a grown man now."

"Jack Spicer Evil Man Genius."

"Exactly!"

"Who once had an idol crushing phase. Do you suppose that was due to the lack of role models in your life?"

"Back to the plan," Jack avoided my question, "I need you to do research on the ground surrounding and underneath the temple. I would hate to run into some secret basement shelter or burst a water pipe and ruin my plan."

"Sounds reasonable," I agreed, "I can dig up most of the recent stuff. I imagine with a temple that old all of the electricity and plumbing is relatively new and therefore on file. Secret underground rooms may be a bit harder to find out."

Jack tapped his chin.

"I could always bring you on the next Shen Gong Wu hunt," Jack suggested, "Pretend you escaped from my evil clutches and follow the monk's home."

I pondered that idea. It could be interesting to meet the Xiaolin dragons in person. Their personalities were interesting enough to keep me occupied for a half a day. Plus seeing the temple could be a great help in any future plans. I could only predict one problem.

"Will we be able to convincely act the parts?" I asked.

"Omi is such a gullible fool that any acting will fool him," Jack said waving his fork around, "And you're a pretty quiet shy girl in distress which Raimundo and Clay will fall for immediately."

My face flushed at that comment. Despite the fact that beauty standards were decided by a society as a whole and influenced largely by the media's unrealistic portrayal of the human body, it was still nice to hear that someone thought of you as good looking. Jack seemed not to notice his comment about my appearance. This could have been due to him being deep in planning mode or perhaps he really had matured over the years and could have civil conversations with women about things that were not dominating the world.

"The only person I could see being trouble is Kimiko," Jack went on, "Your looks won't affect her and she's prone to fits of jealousy and rage. She won't appreciate you stealing the attention from her."

"Did you not use to have quite the crush on her?" I questioned, "I believe you kidnapped her once."

"That was once!" Jack sputtered, "And I got over it when she kicked my ass for kidnapping her."

"So how should I address the Kimiko problem?" I switched topics.

"Your best bet is to compliment her. Win her over. She likes having her ego stroked," Jack stated, "Use female commonalities to your advantage."

"I'll try," I would not admit that I had very few female friendship bonding experiences.

Being homeschooled and advanced for my age meant I didn't spend a lot of time with my peers. I usually hung out with kids several years older than me. They tended to treat me like a small child instead of an equal. I never got to do things like go to the mall with my friends or talk about boys at slumber parties. I went to cram sessions with them instead and got together to do homework at the library or a coffee shop.

"You'll need a cover story for why I kidnapped you though," Jack pondered.

"When lying it's always best to include truthful facts," I inputted, "This gives away less signals that you are fibbing. In this case perhaps the story should be that I am your neighbor and I accidently overheard part of your evil plans when I dropped by for a cup of sugar. You kidnapped me to make sure I wouldn't reveal your plans to the world and was interrupted by the Shen Gong Wu alarm."

"You certainly did drop by," Jack muttered.

"As your new business associate I will ignore that comment for the sake of our partnership."

Jack grumbled under his breathe and we finished our breakfast in silence. After breakfast another Jackbot cleaned up our plates and Jack took me back to the secret lair. From there we began our work. I started researching and Jack started building a giant drill to dig under the temple. Accessing the records was easy once I found the correct database. Translating them was bit a pain but I managed.

At first I thought it would be a bit awkward working with Jack Spicer, the object of my secret investigation for so many years, but we tended to leave each other alone. Jack did his thing in his corner of the room and I did my thing. In the beginning we seemed to be extra aware of the other but that soon faded as we became absorbed in our tasks. I was wearing my headphones, effectively blocking out Jack's music, and absentmindly braiding a section of my hair as I read over some documents on the placement of plumbing fixtures.

Jack glanced at the girl in his lab out of the corner of his eye. He had his googles over his eyes as he worked on his machine so it was easier to hide eye motions. She was swaying slightly in her seat, obviously listening to some kind of music. Her fingers moved quickly through her hair as her eyes scanned the documents. His 15 year old self would have loved having a girl willingly in his lab who wasn't the old ghost hag or Katnappe or his annoying younger cousin. Now he was unsure. All of his past partnerships taught him to be wary and he had reason to be wary of Cori. She knew way too much information for her own good. However, she seemed innocent enough and he had his Jackbots look into her records. Besides being a little odd, she seemed harmless enough. The information she knew would be harmful in the hands of anyone else. The monks were nice enough to only use the information to taunt him or bring him down if they had no other options. The Heylin side would not be so nice. Yes, it was best that Jack kept an eye on her. If she made a move to betray him than he could put a stop to it. Maybe he should put more research into his memory wiper machine, just in case.

That was another reason he had come up with the plan for her to infiltrate the temple. This would be the ultimate test. The Xiaolin dorks had a way of converting people to their side. It was better to test her now before she learned even more secrets about him. If she could resist the Xiaolin ways than he could trust her with bigger and better plots. Briefly his thoughts trailed to his thoughts to hold her hostage. His face flushed slightly at the mental image of Cori in the prison cell he made for Kimiko once upon a time. He had noticed during his later teen years that he had developed certain fetishes. It may have been because he was always the underdog, always put down, or maybe because he was self-proclaimed evil but his sexual desires always drifted a little towards the BDSM side of things with him being the one in charge. The thought of being completely in control during sex, of the other person being helpless to him, of only him being able to bring his partner pleasure; those thoughts turned him on more than anything else. Cori fit the type for his sexual fantasies. She was such a small quiet thing. Seeing her blush, hearing her scream in pleasure would be well indescribable. And she looked the type too. She was cute, but a fuckable kind of cute with her flowery dresses and big wide eyes. He wanted to take that hair full of intricate braids and beadings and ribbons and make a huge sexy mess out of it. He wanted to rip away her quiet composure and make her make all kinds of sexy noises.

"Snap out of it!" he whispered to himself.

If trusting your potentially evil business partner was a bad idea than having sex with them was the worst idea ever. Take Wuya for example. She drooled after Chase and he merely used her affections for him for his own purposes while treating her like dirt. Yes it was better that Jack put aside any thoughts like that. Even if it was hard after witnessing her cute little blush at lunch and he should definitely not wonder if she was into the same kinky things as him.

"Away!" he banished those thoughts again.

Taking a moment, Jack calmed his breathing and thought of other things (like the icky feeling of Wuya passing through him). He took a look at his watch. It was later in the day than he thought. Time for a break. Perhaps some pudding would do him good. Jack reached over for a remote to turn off his music.

"Cori," he called, "You want a snack?"

Cori didn't hear him with her headphones on. She was still staring intently staring at the screen. Jack debated about leaving her and getting a snack on his own but that was hardly a way to prove that Cori should stay and work for him. Sighing, he walked across the room and pulled her headphones out of her ears. An upbeat tune could be heard coming from the earpiece. Unable to resist his curiosity, Jack lifted the headphone up to listen.

"Pop music?" Jack looked at Cori raising an eyebrow.

"It gives me energy," Cori explained looking up at him with her huge innocent eyes.

He couldn't even insult her when she looked like that.

"Snack, do you want one?" Jack asked, getting back on topic.

"Sure," Cori stood up from her seat and stretched slightly, "What do you have?"

Jack made sure not to look at Cori's chest as she stretched her back. He really needed to get his hormones under control. This is what he got for having so little social interaction during his teen years. The first girl who willingly hangs out with him and he can't stop thinking about her body.

"SHEN GUNG WU! SHEN GUNG WU!" his alarm blared.

* * *

Just to clarify Jack is not in love with Cori. He just has a physical attraction for her which makes sense considering his lack of human interaction (especially with women). Stay tuned for the next chapter. We may meet the Xiaolin Warriors!


	3. An Awkward Kidnapping

Before this chapter begins I want to thank all my lovely reviewers and followers. It's nice to hear this story has interest!

* * *

Once upon a time the alarm had just been a regular blaring alarm, but it was difficult to distinguish from the several other alarms he had. Once his parents had moved out, Jack felt comfortable changing the alarms to be more distinct.

"I am going to make an educated guess that a Shen Gung Wu has revealed itself," Cori announced over the alarm.

"Yep," Jack signaled several of his Jackbots, "Prepare the plane and jetpack! And number 14 get some rope."

"Rope?" Cori tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"You're my hostage right?" Jack smirked, "Can't let you wander around freely."

"Oh," Cori's face flushed a delicate pink color, "Than I suppose the rope is needed after all."

Jackbot number 14 handed him the rope. Now Jack could have had one if his many robots tie her up, but where was the fun in that? Besides rattling the composed Cori gave him a wicked sense of pleasure.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back," Jack instructed.

Cori did as she was told.

"How obedient," Jack marveled as he brought the rope around Cori's midsection. He leaned forward to see if the rope was in the correct placement. He towered over her and it gave him a sense of power. The blush on her face seemed to deepen but Cori's facial expressions gave nothing away. Jack smirked at that. He loved that she seemed determined not to let him shock her even when it was obvious that he did. Slowly, Jack wrapped the rope around Cori's back and twisted it. Then he wound the two ends of the rope around Cori's wrists before tying a knot and pulling tightly. She flinched slightly at the rough rope rubbing against her skin but made no sounds of protest. There was still quite a bit of the rope left and Jack got a devious idea. He kneeled on the floor and wound the rope around Cori's ankles. He tied a knot and pulled tight. Cori let out a gasp as she was caught off balance and fell backwards. Jack steadied her by placing his hands on the small of her back.

"Can you get out of that?" Jack asked practically grinning.

Cori struggled with the ropes for a moment and Jack thought he might need a cold shower. Tying his partner up had always been one of his fantasies.

"No," Cori answered in her usual quiet voice.

Jack frowned at that. He was sure that last move would catch her off guard. Inspiration struck.

"Good. Then let's go."

With that said, Jack scooped Cori up in his arms bridal style. She was definitely surprised at that as she let out a small squeak, which she quickly tried to cover up with a cough. Cori averted her eyes from Jack as he carried her to his plane and deposited her in the back seat. Jack practically hopped into his seat as he grinned wickedly. He had gotten away with holding Cori close without her being any the wiser to his intentions. After all she could hardly walk with her feet bound, right? Besides the feeling of her body pressed against his was something he would remember for a long time and that made the entire venture worthwhile. Jack started the ignition, lowered the top of his plane, and placed his googles over his eyes.

"Ready?"

"As much as I can be considering the circumstances," Cori replied.

Jack pulled a lever which opened up the hatch for his plane to fly out of his basement.

"Jackbots assemble!" he commanded as the plane took off with his Jackbots obediently flying behind him.

I sat in the back of Jack's plane trying to calm my heartbeats. I had so little physical human interaction that the act of Jack tying me up caused me to become flustered. Jack of course could not have meant much by it, surely he was just preparing me for my role as hostage. Still I could not help but think that Jack was attractive. Over the years his voice had taken a lower deeper quality which was much more appealing than his younger squeakier higher-pitched voice. Additionally feeling the muscles of his arms and chest running over my body as he tied me up was too much. Part of me wondered if I should have objected to him tying me up, but I had always been quiet. I preferred to sit and watch and think about things. I was more likely to come with a list of questions concerning a person's motives than objecting to them acting on their motives. When I had briefly attended public school I often spent any time being bullied not fighting back. It wasn't that I objected, of course I did, but I had always wanted to see how the bully's actions carried out. This was one of the reasons my parents insisted on homeschooling. They were worried about my lack of fighting back and instead asking probing questions concerning the bully's home life.

Back to the topic at hand. Jack's actions had thrown me through a loop. They left me with more questions than answers. Some of the questions were scientific in nature. Others were part of his psychological profiling and trying to understand his thought process. A few questions were typical teenager girl in nature, no doubt cause by my flustered brain. I refused to voice any of those last questions. Jack would never take me seriously as a scientist and investigator if I asked questions like "Do you like like me or just like me?".

"I have a homing beacon for you," Jack announced from the front, "I'll slip it in your jacket pocket. The beacon will tell me where you are at all times. If you find what you need or are discovered press the red button in the center and my Jackbots and I will immediately respond and retrieve you."

"I understand."

"Once we land, I will find the Xiaolin dorks and challenge them to a showdown over the latest Shen Gong Wu. During the showdown you'll be placed on the sidelines. If the Xiaolin dorks haven't noticed you by then they certainly will at the showdown. Their goody nature will make them have to free you from my evil clutches. I'll lose the showdown and they'll carry you off to their temple. If I don't get your signal within a week I'm come and get you, okay?"

"I look forward to seeing a showdown in person," I admitted, "What is the Shen Gung Wu we are retrieving anyway?"

"The Hat of Many Colors," Jack read off his screen, "Apparently it gives you the power to change the color of anything you desire while wearing it. What a useless Wu."

"Then why go after it?" I couldn't help my curiosity.

"The Xiaolin dorks have to retrieve all the Shen Gung Wu and keep them from falling into the hands of evil, " Jack explained, "Wuya needs all the Wu to return to her full power but since Chase gave her a body she is usually selective in the ones she goes after. I go after them to put the dorks in their place and to give me bargaining chips during future showdowns."

"You may get a lame Shen Gong Wu this time but you can always use bet on it in future showdowns and hopefully win something a little more powerful," I thought out loud.

"Bingo!" Jack cheered, "But since this Wu is so useless we won't have to worry about the other Heylins joining in. Chase and Wuya won't bother at all. Katnappe may show up but it's unlikely since she can't use this Wu for her cat obsession or to help her steal things."

"I know of Katnappe," I spoke up, "Her strong attraction to the feline species worries me as it borders on a psychological disorder. Perhaps you should suggest a therapist for her."

Jack laughed at that. Although what I said wasn't a joke. It was one thing for a small child to wish to become a cat and act like one. It was another thing for a young women in her twenties to act like a cat. It was a bit concerning. Rich people always got away with acting bizarre though.

"We're here," Jack announced as the plane began to land.

Once the plane landed and the engine shut off, Jack quickly snapped off his seatbelt and leaned over his seat.

"The beacon," Jack told me as he stuffed a small black box in my jacket pocket, "And you'll need this. We need to pretend you have evil plans to reveal."

I looked at Jack confused for a second before he pulled out a handkerchief and stuffed it in my mouth. He quickly tied the ends behind the back of my head. I blushed heavily and stared at Jack.

"Be a good hostage. See you in a week! Jackbots follow me!" with that Jack placed on his jetpack and flew out of the plane, leaving me tied up and gagged in the backseat.

A part of me was so embarrassed I hoped the Xiaolin dragons didn't notice me at all. Never in my life had I felt so helpless. I could barely move besides wiggling like a worm and the gag was uncomfortable in my mouth. I wish he had taped my mouth shut instead of having me drool on the handkerchief. I took a moment to calm myself. Despite the fact that I may not like the position I was in. I did agree to it in order to get answers. If I had been less nosy than I could have been at home right now. But I had agreed to this plan and I needed to act on it. First things first I needed to act like a hostage.

A hostage would try to escape. With that thought in mind I decided getting out of the plane should be my first order of business. I peered over the side of the plane. It was pretty close to the ground and a fall from this height shouldn't cause too much damage. Quickly I threw my legs over the side of the plane.

"Here goes nothing," I thought to myself before launching myself over.

I landed on my legs but since I was tied up and had no way to balance myself out, I fell to my side. Well, at least I was out of the plane. I took this moment to look around. Jack seemed to have landed us in a jungle of some sort. Turning over and hefting myself up into a sitting positon I realized I was at the edge of a rainforest. Not good. Rainforests were known for many things including a variety of poisonous creatures that I did not want to run into. Although it made sense that the Hat of Many Colors would be hidden here as the rainforest was a vibrant and colorful landscape.

Jack and Xiaolin Warriors must be further in the rainforest which meant I had to go further into the rainforest, which I couldn't do tied up. I kicked off my flipflops and tried to use my right foot to push the rope over my left foot. It wasn't easy as Jack had tied the rope tightly and it hurt quite a bit. I pushed through the pain and managed to get the rope off from around my feet. If I ever played hostage again, which I highly doubted I would need to after this situation, I was asking Jack to tie me up with a softer material. Now that my feet were free it was much easier to stand up and my arms had a bit more freedom since they weren't tied to my legs. I still couldn't get my hands undone or the take the gag out of my mouth but it would have to do. I slipped my shoes back on. Then I took a moment, closed my eyes, and listened.

Jack had flown off in the eastern direction so I tilted my head that way. From the forest I could hear the chitter and chatter of many creatures. There must have been a river nearby as I could hear rushing water as well. There! I could hear the distinct sounds of Jack's flying backpack. He really should look into making his device quieter. I would speak to him about it at a later date. For now the noise was useful to me and I followed it into the forest,

Flipflops, a dress, and bound hands were not useful for navigating the ground level of a rainforest, but I made sure to keep my pace steady and to observe where I was stepping. It was very humid and I could feel beads of sweat forming on my body. I desperately wished I could take my jean jacket off but it was impossible in my current circumstance. My mind began to wander. I thought over my profiles of the Xiaolin Warriors, while not as detailed as Jack's, they were chock full of information. I reviewed that information in my head. Since the monk's seemed good at sensing deception (well everyone but Omi) I decided to stick as close to my true personality as possible. Hwoever that wouldn't stop me from using the information I had to get the monk's to trust me better. After all I had a week to gain the information I needed. I would hate to fail Jack on my first assignment. He would better cooperate with my psychological profiling if he was in a good mood. Additionally I hated failing. It's why I never gave up on figuring out Jack Spicer after all these years.

The sounds of a fight drifted through the trees and I tried to hurry my pace slightly. Suddenly a Jackbot came hurling through the trees. I ducked as it slammed into a tree trunk behind me and exploded. The blast, while tiny, knocked my off my feet.

"Those are expensive to replace!" I heard Jack yell.

"Give it down Jack Spicer," a young male voice yelled, "The Shen Gong Wu is ours!"

"It's give it up Omi, not give it down." Another male voice corrected.

"That does not make sense," Omi commented.

"Focus boys," a female interrupted.

I managed to use a nearby tree trunk to regain my standing position. My heartbeat pounded a little. Thinking things and doing things were two completely different processes, but if I could waltz up to Jack Spicer than I could waltz up to the Xiaolin Warriors. Making my way through the last line of trees, I came to a clearing. The Jackbots were fighting three boys and a girl. I presumed they were the Xiaolin Warriors. It had been a year or two since I had seen them from my window while they broke into the Spicer household. They all looked to be in their mid to late teens. While their faces and bodies had matured the outfits remained pretty much the same. Clay was still dressed as a cowboy. Raimundo was dressed in his typical "cool dude" style. Omi was dressed in the traditional robes. The only exception being Kimiko, who never seemed to wear the same outfit twice. Today her outfit and hair reminded me of Laura Croft.

The four of them were decimating Jack's robots. They easily dodged the laser eyes, rotating blades, and other weapons. I took a step back. There was no way I could dodge a Jackbot attack and it would be suspicious if Jack ordered them not to attack me. Perhaps it was better to remain unseen for the time being.

Omi managed to break free of the Jackbots and go after Jack. Clay covered for him by swinging one Jacbot into several others creating yet another explosion. Jackbot pieces went flying everywhere. I let out a terrified shriek as a long sharp piece of metal managed to just avoid impaling me and fell on my butt.

"Hey you okay?" a voice asked.

I looked around. The Xiaolin Warriors and Jack were still fighting so it couldn't be them. The voice had come from close to the ground so I looked there. Hiding behind some roots seemed to be a small lizard. Oh it must be the dragon the monks ride on. I had seen it change sizes a few times. Although the information I had been able to gather on it was little. Apparently his name was Dojo and he had been alive for a very long time. He was the monks' way of knowing when Shen Gong Wu revealed themselves and their main form of transportation. Although according my information network he was there when the Shen Gong Wu had been hidden so why he couldn't find them before they revealed themselves was beyond me. Surely it wasn't that hard to remember the placement of some very important and powerful artifacts?

"You okay?" the dragon asked again.

I nodded my head slowly at him. The dragon came out from its hiding place and slithered over. I wonder why it didn't fly. I had seen it fly in its big form. Surely it was possible when he was smaller in size. It's not like he grew wings that he needed to fly or anything? Maybe I could ask him later.

"You know it's dangerous to be out here," the dragon lectured me, "That's why I was hiding."

I raised my eyebrow at him. Surely a fire breathing dragon was more than a match for some 4 feet tall robots.

"Here I'll untie you," the dragon offered, "Then you can get away from here."

I was beginning to see why the dragon could not remember the placement of all the Shen Gong Wu. It was not very bright. Its heart seemed to be in the right place though. It didn't question why I was out here or who tied me up. I felt the dragon climb over my hands.

"Man these are some tight knots," I heard the dragon grunt, "Guess I'll use the old teeth."

The ropes around my hands came loose and I quickly pulled them apart. Then I untied the gag and threw it far away from me.

"Thank you," I told the small creature.

"It's no trouble," the dragon blushed a little at my thanks before slithering up my knee and perching on it.

"I'm Dojo," the dragon introduced himself.

"Cori," I replied.

"You better get going Cori," Dojo warned, "This could get real messy."

"Well you see," I tried to explain but was interrupted by a cry.

"GONG YI TEMPAI!"

The earth began to shake and there was a bright light from the clearing.

"Dojo!" I cried a bit frightened, "What's going on?"

"It's a showdown!"


End file.
